Sad Survey Reveals Americans Who Read Books Are a Dying Breed [POLL]

A new survey has found that 23% of Americans didn’t read a book during the last year. And by ‘reading a book,’ we mean a traditional book, an e-reader or a book on CD/tape.

That number is the same as it was in 2012, but a sharp drop from 1978 when only 8% said they hadn’t read a book. Of course, back in those days, people weren’t distracted by the hundreds of TV channels at their disposal, video games to occupy their time or this radical new time-waster called the internet.

Back in 1978, 42% of adults enjoyed at least 11 books in the previous year, compared to just 28% who breezed through 11 in this most recent poll.

Let’s not declare the death of the love of literature just yet, though. There were still 55% who admit to reading a book in the last year (thank you, ’50 Shades of Grey’ and housewives who confessed to catching up on the ‘Twilight’ series).